Imperial County Cross-Border Survey
Report
Prepared for:
Southern California Association of
Governments 818 7th Street, 12th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90017
Imperial Valley Association of Governments
940 W. Main Street, Suite 208 El Centro, CA 92243
Prepared by: Rea & Parker Research
San Diego, California 92142 858-279-5070
www.rea-parker.com
June, 2007
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Table of Contents Page Acknowledgements iii List of Tables iv List of Charts v List of Maps vii Report Summary viii Introduction 1 Methodology 3 Border Crossing Counts 4 Survey Sample 7 Geocoding of SCAG Region Origin/Destination Locations 9 Survey Respondent Characteristics 11 Cross-Border Travel Behavior & Characteristics 15 Mexicali/Calexico Downtown 17 Passenger Vehicles 17 Pedestrians 28 Calexico-East: Northbound Passenger Vehicles 41 Algodones 47 Northbound Passenger Vehicles 47 Pedestrians 52 Calexico-East: Commercial Trucks 62 Appendix 89 Surveyor/Counter Positions Schedule of Surveyor/Counter Assignments Survey Instruments Counts in 15 Minute Intervals
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Acknowledgements
Rea & Parker Research wishes to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank those agencies
and general governments in Mexico and in the United States that have so generously contributed
their time, counsel, and invaluable support to this project.
These agencies and general governments include the following:
Southern California Association of Governments
Imperial Valley Association of Governments
State of California Department of Transportation
County of Imperial
City of Calexico
United States General Services Administration
United States Department of Homeland SecurityCustoms and Border Protection
Instituto de Administracion y Avaluos de Bienes Nacionales (Mexico)
Ayuntamiento de MexicaliRelaciones Internacionales (Mexico)
Instituto Municipal de Investigacion y Planeacion Urbana de Mexicali (Municipality of
Mexicali)
Aduana Mexicana (Mexican Customs)
Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma-Quechan Reservation
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List of Tables
Table Page 1Imperial County Daily Border Crossing Counts 4 2Comparison of Rea & Parker Research Cross Border Northbound Counts to March 2006 Customs and Border Protection Counts 7 3Distribution of Completed Surveys by Location, Direction, and Mode of Transportation 8 4Distribution of Completed Surveys by Survey Location 8 5Distribution of Completed Surveys by Mode of Transportation 9 6Total Trips Geocoded 10 7Northbound Passenger VehiclesVehicle Type and Passenger Demographics 11 8Southbound Passenger VehiclesVehicle Type and Passenger Demographics 12 9Mexicali/Calexico DowntownPedestrian Residence 14 10AlgodonesPedestrian Residence 14 11Surveyed Truck TypesCalexico East 15 12Estimated Number of Passenger Vehicles Traveling on Imperial County Roads as a Part of Northbound Vehicle Trip across Border at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown 27 13Estimated Number of Passenger Vehicles Traveling on Imperial County Roads as a Part of Northbound Vehicle Trip across Border at Calexico East 46 14--Estimated Number of Commercial Trucks Traveling on Major Regional Roads as a Part of Trip across Border at Calexico East 88
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List of Charts Chart Page Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Passenger Vehicles 1Trip PurposeNorthbound 17 2Occupation of Commuters to/from Work 18 3Trip Purpose-Southbound 19 4Occupation of Commuters to/from Work 19 5Origin-Destination (Northbound and Southbound WeekdayNorthbound Weekend) 20 6U.S. City of DestinationNorthbound 21 7City of OriginSouthbound 22 8Trip FrequencyNorthbound 25 9Trip FrequencySouthbound 25 10Major Roads UsedNorthbound 26 11Major Roads UsedSouthbound 26 Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Pedestrians 12Trip PurposeNorthbound 28 13Trip PurposeSouthbound 29 14Occupation of Commuters to/from WorkNorthbound 30 15Occupation of Commuters to/from WorkSouthbound 30 16Origin-DestinationNorthbound 31 17Origin-DestinationSouthbound 31 18U.S. City DestinationsNorthbound 32 19U.S. City of OriginSouthbound 35 20Trip FrequencyNorthbound 35 21Trip FrequencySouthbound 36 22Length of StayNorthbound 37 23Length of StaySouthbound 37 24Mode of Transportation to BorderNorthbound 38 25Mode of Transportation to BorderSouthbound 39 26Mode of Transportation from BorderNorthbound 39 27Mode of Transportation from BorderSouthbound 40 Calexico EastNorthbound Passenger Vehicles 28Trip Purpose 42 29Occupation of Commuters to/from Work 42 30Origin-Destination 43 31U.S. City of Destination 43 32Trip Frequency 45 33Major Roads Used 46 AlgodonesNorthbound Passenger Vehicles 34Trip Purpose 48 35Origin-Destination 48 36Mexican City/Region of Origin 49 37U.S. State of Trip Destination 50 38U.S. City of Destination 50 39Trip Frequency 51
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AlgodonesPedestrians 40Trip PurposeNorthbound and Southbound 52 41Origin-DestinationNorthbound 53 42Origin-DestinationSouthbound 53 43U.S. State of OriginSouthbound 54 44U.S. City of OriginSouthbound 55 45U.S. State of DestinationNorthbound 55 46U.S. City of DestinationSouthbound 56 47Trip FrequencyNorthbound 57 48Trip FrequencySouthbound 58 49Length of StayNorthbound 58 50Length of StaySouthbound 59 51Mode of Transportation to BorderNorthbound 60 52Mode of Transportation to BorderSouthbound 60 53Mode of Transportation from BorderNorthbound 61 54Mode of Transportation from BorderSouthbound 61 Calexico EastCommercial Trucks 55Where Picked Up CargoNorthbound 63 56Where Picked Up CargoSouthbound 64 57Mexican City/Region Where Cargo Picked UpNorthbound 64 58U.S. City Where Cargo Picked UpSouthbound 65 59Where Cargo OriginatedNorthbound 67 60Mexican City/Region Where Cargo OriginatedNorthbound 67 61Where Cargo OriginatedSouthbound 68 62U.S. City Where Cargo OriginatedSouthbound 69 63Empty Northbound Trucks: Where Empty Trip Started 69 64Empty Southbound Trucks: Where Empty Trip Started 70 65U.S. City Where Empty Trip StartedSouthbound 70 66Empty Northbound Trucks: Where Cargo to be Picked Up 73 67U.S. City Where Cargo to be Picked Up by Empty Northbound Trucks 74 68Empty Southbound Trucks: Where Cargo to be Picked Up 74 69Mexican City/Region Where Cargo to be Picked Up by Empty Southbound Trucks 76 70Where Cargo to be Dropped OffNorthbound 77 71U.S. City Where Cargo to be Dropped OffNorthbound 77 72Where Cargo to be Dropped OffSouthbound 79 73Percentage of Northbound Trucks with Cargo that Continues Beyond Drop-Off 80 74Percentage of Southbound Trucks with Cargo that Continues Beyond Drop-Off 80 75Percentage of Northbound Trucks that Change Drivers at Border 81 76 Percentage of Northbound Trucks that Change Drivers at Border 82 77Percentage of Northbound Trucks that Process Papers at Border 82 78Percentage of Southbound Trucks that Process Papers at Border 83 79Type Of CargoNorthbound 84 80Type of CargoSouthbound 84 81Trip FrequencyNorthbound 85 82Trip FrequencySouthbound 86 83Major Roads UsedNorthbound 86 84Major Roads UsedSouthbound 87
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List of Maps of Geocoded Survey Results
Map Page 1Imperial County Study Area 2 2Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Northbound Passenger Vehicles U.S. Destinations 23 3Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Southbound Passenger Vehicles U.S. Origins 24 4Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Northbound Pedestrians U.S. Destinations 33 5Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Southbound Pedestrians U.S. Origins 34 6Calexico East Northbound Passenger Vehicles U.S. Destinations 44 7Calexico East Southbound Commercial Trucks U.S. Cargo Pick-up 66 8Calexico East Southbound Commercial Trucks U.S. Cargo Origin 71 9Calexico East Empty Southbound Commercial Trucks U.S. Start 72 10Calexico East Empty Northbound Commercial Trucks U.S. Cargo Pick-up 75 11Calexico East Northbound Commercial Trucks U.S. Cargo Drop-off 78
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Report Summary
Study Purpose and Need
The Imperial County Transportation Model was jointly developed by Imperial County, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), and CALTRANS. This model is being updated by CALTRANS and the Imperial Valley Association of Governments (IVAG), a critical component of which is travel across the international border between the United States and Mexico. Rea & Parker Research was chosen to provide consultative assistance to this endeavor and to develop a survey database of cross-border travel on weekdays and weekends by pedestrians, passenger vehicles, and commercial trucks. This database included the following cross-border characteristics, among others:
Trip origin/destination (including geocoded SCAG region locations) Trip purpose Travel Route Vehicle Type Trip Frequency Traveler Characteristics
Also to be provided were traffic counts that were conducted concurrently with the survey, including transportation mode classifications by quarter-hour and direction. The surveys and counts were performed at all Imperial County border crossingsMexicali/Calexico Downtown, Calexico East, and Algodones (Andrade), near Yuma, Arizona.
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Study Methods
Surveys and counts were performed on selected weekdays and weekend days between February 25, 2007 and March 11, 2007. Counts were made for passenger vehicles, pedestrians, trucks, and buses northbound and southbound. Pedestrian surveys were administered northbound and southbound at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown and Algodones by interviewers who interviewed stopped vehicles passengers and pedestrians as they approached or just completed crossing the border. There were separate personnel assigned to count and to survey at each site. Truck surveys were administered northbound and southbound at Calexico East. Surveys were administered to passenger vehicles northbound and southbound at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown and northbound only at Calexico East and Algodones. The southbound surveys at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown were limited to rush hour periods and times when CALTRANS personnel could otherwise stop traffic. For other times at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown and at the other two crossings, southbound traffic moves unimpeded, making it impossible to obtain intercept surveys. Completed surveys were input into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 13.0) and analyzed. Counts, made in 15 minute intervals, were input into Microsoft Excel and tallied. Survey Sample
A total of 5,282 surveys are included in this analysisthe distribution between weekday and weekend surveys is approximately equal.
The majority (58 percent) of surveys was obtained at the Mexicali/Calexico Downtown border crossing (n=3,043), with the other two sites dividing the remainder approximately in half.
Passenger vehicle surveys (n=2,918) represented 55 percent of all surveys completed, with another 36 percent (n=1,873) having been obtained from pedestrians and 9 percent (n=491) from commercial trucks.
Completed surveys were weighted to reflect the distribution of counts in 15 minute intervals so that the analysis that follows is proportionately representative of the population of border crossers in direct relationship to the times that they cross the border.
Cross Border Counts The Mexicali/Calexico Downtown border crossing is the core of the Imperial County-Baja California trans-border interaction. Calexico East also has a significant passenger vehicle component along with its being the commercial cross border hub of the region, and Algodones experiences a large number of pedestrians moving back and forth across its border. There are complexities in the movement back and forth, shifting the symmetry of travel from being all within one day and one crossing to a network of cross border travel that involves different crossings and different days for the two directions of movement.
In total, for all three border crossings, there were 24,289 northbound weekday passenger vehicles counted (58 percent at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown) and 27,921 southbound vehicles counted (76 percent at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown).
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Total weekend northbound passenger vehicles at all three crossings on weekends were 25,203, with 23,698 southbound. The Mexicali/Calexico Downtown share of passenger vehicles on weekends was 57 percent northbound and 65 percent southbound.
As for pedestrian crossings, northbound weekdays totaled 23,278 (75 percent at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown). Southbound, there were 18,643 pedestrian crossings (72 percent Mexicali/Calexico Downtown).
Weekend pedestrian crossings were 23,584 northbound (76 percent at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown) and 17,937 southbound (72 percent at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown).
Truck crossings on the weekday at Calexico East totaled 1,071 northbound and 1,093 southbound. On weekends, these totals dropped by more than 50 percent to 404 northbound and 500 southbound.
The counts made in this study are higher than Customs and Border Protection (CBP) counts for Mexicali/Calexico Downtown pedestrians and somewhat lower for passenger vehicles at Mexicali/Downtown and Calexico East and for pedestrians at Algodones. Overall, this study has counted 48,796 daily border crossings at the three ports of entry by passenger vehicles, pedestrians, and commercial trucks, and CBP daily averages for March 2006 are 46,356
Comparison of Rea & Parker Research (R&P) Cross-Border Northbound Counts
to March, 2006 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Counts Transportation
Mode Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Calexico East Algodones
R&P
CBP March,
2006
CBP Daily Mean
R&P
CBP March,
2006
CBP Daily Mean
R&P
CBP March,
2006
CBP Daily Mean
Passenger Vehicles
14,232
514,662
16,602
8,511
370,973
11,967
1,807
61,867
1,996
Pedestrians 17,642 196,463 6,338 ----- ----- ----- 5,724 264,199 8,523 Commercial
Trucks
-----
-----
-----
880
28,817
930
-----
-----
----- * Weighted average (5:2) of weekday and weekend counts
Selected Key Survey Findings Survey Respondent Characteristics
Single adult occupant vehicles represented the majority of Mexicali/Calexico passenger vehicle crossings (58 percent weekday - 65 percent weekend) in contrast to closer to 35 percent 43 percent at the other two sites. Consistent with that, children are much more prevalent in Calexico East passenger vehicles (27 percent weekday and 29 percent weekend).
Northbound passenger vehicle crossers mostly live in the Municipality of Mexicali for the Mexicali/Calexico Downtown and Calexico East crossings; whereas, Algodones has border crossers from other parts of Mexico and from many parts of the United States, with Arizona (35 percent weekday and 26 percent weekend) most represented among U.S. residence locations. Canada, Washington State, and Oregon residents are prominent at Algodones.
Most survey participants live in single family residences and are employed in a diverse cross-section of occupational categories, with agriculture, service, and government somewhat more numerous. Algodones has a large contingent of individuals who are not
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workingespecially weekday crossers (65 percent). This is consistent with nearby Yumas winter attractiveness to retirees from colder weather locations.
Mexicali and Imperial Valley (including Calexico and El Centro) Cross Border Travel Behavior and Characteristics Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Passenger Vehicles:
During the week, 38 percent of passenger vehicle travelers travel between their home and workplace, with 17 percent on weekends. Ranking second during the week are home-
shopping trips (25 percent). On weekends, home-shopping trips comprise 31 percent of all trips.
Regarding work trip purposes, agricultural jobs dominate (37 percent of weekday northbound, 40 percent of weekday southbound, and 45 percent weekend northbound.
Home-based trips (trips from home to/from work, shopping, medical, social or recreational activities) represent 92 percent of weekday trips (northbound and southbound) and 95 percent of weekend northbound trips.
Northbound trips originate almost entirely in the Municipality of Mexicali (96 percent weekday and 94 percent weekend) and are destined for cities that are 97 percent in California, almost all in the Imperial Valley (led by Calexico 65 percent weekday and 61 percent weekend). The reverse, southbound, trips originate in almost perfect symmetry to the northbound destinations, with Imperial Valley locations dominant.
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38%
17%
25%
31%
13%
27%
8%
13%
4% 4%7%
5%
2% 3% 3%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Home-Work
Home-Shopping
Home-Other than Work, Shopping, etc.
Home-Social/Recreation
Home-School
Home-Uncertain Attraction
Work-Other than Home or Work
Other than Home or Work-Other than Home or Work
Origin-DestinationNorthbound & Southbound Passenger Vehicles (Weekday)Northbound Only (Weekend)--Mexicali-Calexico Downtown
Weekday-N & S (N=35,246)Weekend-North (N=14,420)
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Approximately one-third (32 percent) of weekday southbound and 19 percent of weekday northbound passenger vehicles cross the border at least once daily. Weekly trips (averaging between 2.0 and 3.5 trips per week) are more commonplace72 percent weekday northbound, 53 percent weekday southbound, and 75 percent weekend northbound.
State Route 111 plays a role in transporting approximately 90 percent of passenger vehicle border crossers at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown, with State Route 98 and Interstate 8 following in importance.
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Pedestrians:
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Pedestrian Border Crossing
Weekday northbound pedestrian crossers are crossing for work (29 percent) and to visit family and friends (22 percent). On weekends, they cross more for work (36 percent) and shopping (24 percent).
Southbound weekday crossers are shopping (29 percent) and visiting family and friends (22 percent). On weekends southbound, the main purposes are shopping (41 percent) and to visit family and friends (25 percent).
Regarding work trip purposes, those jobs in which pedestrian commuters are most numerous are agricultural jobs weekday northbound (57 percent) but are balanced among retail (31 percent), construction (27 percent) and agriculture (25 percent) on weekends. Southbound commuter (to and from work) jobs are in agriculture (22 percent) and service (19 percent) weekdays and agriculture (49 percent) on weekends.
Home-based trips represent 92 percent of weekday northbound trips and 91 percent on weekends, with 82 percent of southbound weekday trips and 94 percent of weekend southbound trips also being home-based.
Northbound trips originate almost entirely in the Municipality of Mexicali (99 percent weekday and 97 percent weekend) and are destined for almost entirely to the Imperial Valley (led by Calexico 69 percent weekday and 81 percent weekend). The reverse, southbound, trips originate in much the same configuration as northbound destinations, with Imperial Valley locations dominant (Calexico 75 percent both weekday and weekend).
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29%
36%
28%
11%
20%
24%
5%
17%
8%6%
5%
1%2%
1%3% 4%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Workplace
Visit Family/Friends
ShoppingBusiness Travel
Recreation
SchoolDining/Entertain
Other
Trip Purpose Northbound Pedestrians--Mexicali/Calexico Downtown
Weekday-North (N=17,496)Weekend-North (N=18,006)
Almost one-half (47 percent) of weekday northbound and nearly one-third (31 percent) of
weekday southbound pedestrians cross the border on foot at least once daily with 6 percent of weekend northbound and 14 percent of weekend southbound pedestrians doing the same. The lowest frequency of crossing is indicated among northbound weekend pedestrians, 29 percent of whom cross the border an average of only twice per year and another 14 percent of whom cross less than once per year.
Once across the border, many pedestrians stay more than one day in a pattern that implies staying in the United States for the work week and then returning to Mexico. That is, 21 percent of weekday northbound pedestrians stay more than one day (mean stay = 4.53 days) and 24 percent of weekend southbound pedestrians stay for more than one day (mean stay = 3.20 days).
Same day border crossers stay for an average of 6.65 hours weekday northbound and 4.51 hours weekend northbound in contrast to 2.66 hours weekday southbound and 3.60 hours weekend southbound.
Northbound, coming from Mexico, pedestrians reach the border primarily by car, with 32 percent being dropped off on weekends and 23 percent on weekdays and 28 percent parking their own car on weekends (25 percent weekdays) and then walking across.
Southbound, parking of their own car is most common among pedestrian crossers27 percent weekday and 25 percent weekday. Taxis are also important on weekends for southbound pedestrians (25 percent), and walking both to and across the border is done by 20 percent of weekday southbound border crossers.
Once across, pedestrians reach their destinations by continuing to walk weekends northbound (35 percent) or by being picked up by automobile northbound weekdays (32 percent). Southbound, taxis are the most used mode (29 percent weekday and 36 percent weekend), followed by parked automobiles (24 percent weekdays and 25 percent weekends).
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Calexico East Passenger Vehicles:
Among weekday northbound cross border passenger vehicle trips at Calexico East, 95 percent are home-based, as are 92 percent of weekend trips. Trips between home and shopping are most common (35 percent weekday and 58 percent weekend). Home-work trips comprise 24 percent of weekday passenger vehicle trips at Calexico East.
35%
58%
24%
10%14%
6%
11%10%
1%
10%8%
2% 2% 2%4%
1% 2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Home-Shopping
Home-Work
Home-Other than Work, Shopping, etc.
Home-Social/Recreation
Home-School
Home-Uncertain Attraction
Work-Work
Work-Other than Home or Work
Other than Home or Work-Other than Home or Work
Origin-Destination Passenger Vehicles - Calexico East
Weekday-North (N=8,374)Weekend-North (N=8,854)
Calexico East International Border
Mexicali is the major city of origin (97 percent weekday and 94 percent weekend). Destinations are Imperial Valley dominated, led by Calexico (63 percent weekday and 61 percent weekend) and El Centro (20 percent weekday and 23 percent weekend).
Crossings at Calexico East are less frequent than those that are made at
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown11 percent of weekday and 14 percent of weekend northbound passenger vehicles at Calexico East cross the border at least once daily.
The major roads used by passenger vehicle border crossers at the Calexico East Port of Entry are State Route 98 (31 percent), State Route 7 (21 percent), and Forrester Road (19 percent) on weekdays. Weekends seem to have a different pattern of traffic from
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weekdaysState Route 111 dominates in terms of carrying northbound cross-border traffic for at least some portion of their trip (45 percent weekend in contrast to 15 percent weekday), which is consistent with the preponderance of weekend shopping trips.
Algodones Passenger Vehicles:
Algodones has established itself as an inexpensive source of medicine and medical care
for part-time Yuma residents who spend their winter away from their colder climate homes. The survey data reflects this phenomenon in that 43 percent of weekday passenger vehicle cross border trips are medically related, with another 27 percent shopping.
On weekends, medical trips decline and shopping assumes the position of primary trip purpose (40 percent).
Trips are much less home-based than Mexicali/Calexico and Calexico East-- 72 percent of weekday trips and 73 percent of weekend trips are home-based.
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Daily crossers represent a smaller proportion than passenger vehicles at Calexico East and Mexicali/Calexico Downtown (10 percent weekday and 6 percent weekend).
Algodones Pedestrians:
Algodones pedestrians are crossing the border to shop (36 percent weekday and 40
percent weekend) and go to the dentist (23 percent weekday and 29 percent weekend). Yuma is the primary origin (82 percent weekday and 73 percent weekend). Phoenix is
the origin for 9 percent of weekday and 8 percent of weekend pedestrians. Northbound pedestrian destinations show that Yuma and its surrounding cities of
Winterhaven and Wellton represent 63 percent of weekday destinations and 73 percent of weekend destinations. Once again, Phoenix plays a prominent role (14 percent weekday and 9 percent weekend).
Algodones pedestrians cross the border less frequently than do Mexicali/Calexico Downtown pedestrians, with the preponderance of pedestrians averaging between 2 and 3 trips per year.
Once across the border, some pedestrians stay more than one day, especially those traveling southbound on weekdays (26 percentaverage 3.32 days). Northbound pedestrians who stayed across the border only for the day indicate that their stay across the border averaged a short 1.42 hours (weekend) to 2.12 hours (weekday). Southbound same-day pedestrian border crossers indicate longer anticipated stays than northbound pedestrians (2.28hours on weekdays to 3.28 hours on weekends), which would imply that pedestrians intend to stay longer than they actually do.
36%
40%
23%
29%
6%8%
5%3% 4%
6%5%
4%1% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1%
3%
12%
7%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Shopping
DentistRecreation
HomeDoctor
Dining/Entertain
Vacation
Medicine
Visit Family/Friends
Work/School/Business
Other
Trip Purpose Combined Northbound and Southbound Algodones Pedestrians
Weekday (N=11,011)Weekend (N=10,673)
Northbound, coming from Mexico, pedestrians reach the border primarily by walking (63
percent weekday82 percent weekend) or parking their car (34 percent weekday17 percent weekend). Southbound, parking of their own car is most common among
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pedestrian crossers80 percent weekday and 94 percent weekday. Buses (public and private) and taxis are also important on weekdays for southbound pedestrians.
Once across, pedestrians reach their destinations by using their parked automobiles northbound (95 percent both weekday and weekend) or by walking southbound (89 percent weekday and 83 percent weekend).
Calexico East Commercial Trucks:
Cargo Pick-Up
Among northbound trucks crossing the border at Calexico East, 78 percent of weekday trucks were carrying cargo when surveyed as were 72 percent of weekend northbound trucks. Cargo is picked up predominantly at warehouses (41 percent weekday and 30 percent weekend), followed by maquiladoras29 percent weekday and 20 percent weekend.
In contrast, 84 percent of weekday southbound trucks were empty when surveyed and 40 percent of weekend southbound trucks were also empty. Among those with cargo, pick-ups were almost entirely at warehouses.
Northbound pick-ups were made mostly within the Municipality of Mexicali (64 percent weekday and 80 percent weekend) and in the Mexicali Valley (27 percent weekday). Southbound pick-ups were concentrated in Calexico (73 percent weekday and 76 percent weekend), followed by Los Angeles (13 percent weekday and 12 percent weekend) and El Centro (13 percent weekday).
Weekday southbound empty trucks started their empty trips locally in Calexico (70 percent) and El Centro (15 percent) or on the weekend in Calexico (62 percent), Brawley (14 percent), and El Centro (10 percent).
73%76%
13% 12% 13%
2%
7%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Calexico Los Angeles El Centro Modesto
U.S. City Where Cargo Picked Up Southbound Trucks
Weekday-Southbound (N=1,093)Weekend-Southbound (N=500)
100% picked up in California
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Empty northbound trucks will ultimately pick up their cargo at truck parking areas (45 percent weekday and 49 percent weekend) and at warehouses (34 percent weekday and 36 percent weekend). These sites are located in Calexico (51 percent), Los Angeles (21 percent), and El Centro (10 percent) for weekday trucks and for weekend trucks substantially at Calexico (82 percent) and Heber (13 percent).
Empty southbound trucks will ultimately pick up their cargo at truck parking areas (69 percent weekday) and warehouses (28 percent weekday and 77 percent weekend)mostly in the Municipality of Mexicali (88 percent weekday and 79 percent weekend) and Caborca, Sonora (15 percent weekend).
Calexico East Business Park
Cargo Drop-Off
Northbound weekday trucks already with cargo on-board will drop that cargo off at warehouses (41 percent) and refrigerated warehouses for agricultural goods (29 percent). On weekends, those drop offs will occur at warehouses (53 percent) and truck parking areas (33 percent).
These drop off points are led by Calexico (50 percent weekday and 54 percent weekend), Yuma (12 percent both weekday and weekend), Heber (12 percent weekend), Los Angeles (10 percent weekday), and El Centro (8 percent weekend).
Drop-off destinations for southbound trucks are warehouses (70 percent weekday and 58 percent weekend), maquiladoras (39 percent weekend), and truck parking areas (20 percent weekday). Drop-off sites are almost entirely within the Municipality of Mexicali.
Slightly more than one-half (51 percent) of weekday northbound drivers indicate that the cargo will go farther than their drop-off point, 21 percent of weekend southbound drivers also indicated that eventuality, as did 9 percent of weekend northbound drivers. No weekday southbound drivers said that would occur, which is consistent with 84 percent of these trucks being empty.
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50%
54%
12% 12%10%
5% 4%
8%
4% 5% 4%1%
3% 3% 2% 2%1% 1%
12%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Calexico Yuma LosAngeles
El Centro Brawley Oxnard Holtville San Diego Coachella Heber
U.S. City Where Cargo to be Dropped OffNorthbound Trucks
Weekday-Northbound (N=1,071)Weekend-Northbound (N=404)
Weekday:86% dropped off in California14% dropped off in Arizona
Weekend:88% dropped off in California12% dropped off in Arizona
Driver Change/Paper Processing
Only a very small number of trucks change drivers at the borderled by 9 percent of weekday southbound trucks.
Most trucks will stop at the border to process papers at the border, ranging from as little as 61 percent of northbound weekday trucks to almost all (98 percent) weekend northbound trucks. Southbound trucks are in between the two extremes at 81 percent for both weekday and weekend trucks.
Trucks Waiting to Cross at the Calexico East Commercial Truck Crossing
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The time spent by trucks in the paper processing system can be substantial. Mean (average) processing times range from as low as 27 minutes (southbound weekday) to as high as 108 minutes for southbound weekend trucks. Individual processing times range from as little as one minute for one northbound weekday truck to as many as eight hours for another northbound weekend truck. Median processing times ranged from 15 minutes for northbound and southbound weekday trips to 45 minutes (northbound) to 60 minutes (southbound) on weekends.
Type of Cargo
Agricultural produce represents 38 percent of the weekday northbound cargo and 35 percent of weekend northbound cargo. Heavy equipment comprises 14 percent of northbound weekday cargo and 16 percent of northbound weekend cargo, followed by electronics (7 percent weekday northbound and 10 percent weekend northbound), auto and truck parts (5 percent weekday northbound and 9 percent weekend northbound), and foods and juices other than agriculture (6 percent both weekday and weekend).
Southbound cargo is led by heavy equipment (17 percent weekday and 19 percent weekend) and foods and juices other than agriculture (15 percent weekday and 21 percent weekend). These are followed closely by agricultural products (17 percent both weekday and weekend), electronics (10 percent weekday and 14 percent weekend) and paper goods (10 percent weekday and 11 percent weekend).
Trip Frequency/Major Roads Used
Trucks that cross the border move back and forth with great frequency, many making more than one trip back and forth daily41 percent of weekday northbound and 80 percent of weekend northbound trucks make the trip across the border more than once per day, with another 47 percent of northbound weekday trucks making the trip exactly once per day. Southbound trucks are very frequent multiple cross-border trip takers, with 85 percent of weekday trucks making more than one trip daily and 89 percent of weekend trucks also making more than one trip.
Northbound trucks travel more locally on weekends but make extensive use of a farther flung network of roads during the week. Northbound trucks make use of State Route 7 (83 percent weekday/92 percent weekend), State Route 98 (53 percent weekday/71 percent weekend), State Route 111 (33 percent weekday/16 percent weekend), Interstate 8 (28 percent weekday/20 percent weekend), Interstate 10 (18 percent weekday), and State Route 86 (13 percent weekday).
In contrast, southbound trucks show a greater use of roads farther away from the border on weekends. Most frequently used roads by southbound trucks are State Route 98 (78 percent weekday/57 percent weekend), State Route 7 (76 percent weekday/51 percent weekend), State Route 111 (13 percent weekday/45 percent weekend), Interstate 8 (21 percent weekday/28 percent weekend), State Route 86 (16 percent weekday/30 percent weekend), and Interstate 10 (13 percent weekday/32 percent weekend).
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
xxiii
83%
92%
53%
71%
33%
16%
28%
20%18%
4%
13%
4% 3% 1% 1% 1% 1%0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
SR7 SR98 SR 111 Interstate 8 Interstate10
SR 86 SR 115 SR 78 MexicoHighway2D (Toll)
MexicoHighway 5
Major Roads Used Northbound Trucks
Weekday-Northbound (N=1,071)Weekend-Northbound (N=404)
78%
57%
76%
51%
21%
27%
16%
30%
13%
45%
13%
32%
2%5% 5%
1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
SR98 SR7 Interstate 8 SR 86 SR 111 Interstate 10 SR 78 SR 115 MexicoHighway 5
Major Roads Used Southbound Trucks
Weekday-Southbound (N=1,093)Weekend-Southbound (N=500)
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
1
Imperial County Cross Border Survey
Introduction
The Imperial County Transportation Model (ICTM) was jointly developed by Imperial County,
the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), and CALTRANS. This model is
being updated by CALTRANS and the Imperial Valley Association of Governments (IVAG), a
critical component of which is travel across the international border between the United States
and Mexico.
SCAG has sought consultative assistance in gathering travel characteristics of cross-border trips
for the new, updated model and assistance in generating data that would also provide useful
information to SCAGs Regional Modeling program. This data would serve as the basis for the
development of a new Cross Border Model.
Rea & Parker Research was chosen to provide this consultative assistance and to develop a
survey database of cross-border travel on weekdays and weekends by pedestrians, passenger
vehicles, and commercial trucks. This database would identify all or some subset of the
following cross-border characteristics:
Trip origin/destination (including geocoded SCAG region locations) Trip purpose Travel Route Vehicle Type Trip Frequency Traveler Characteristics
Also to be provided were traffic counts that would be conducted concurrently with the survey,
including transportation mode classifications by quarter-hour and direction. The surveys and
counts were to be performed at all Imperial County border crossingsMexicali/Calexico
Downtown, Calexico East, and Algodones (Andrade), near Yuma, Arizona. These border
crossings are shown on Map 1, along with major roads and cities in Imperial County.
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Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
3
Methodology
Many meetings were conducted among the partiesRea & Parker Research, SCAG,
CALTRANS, IVAG, and representatives of Imperial County, City of Calexico, United States
General Services Administration (GSA), United States Department of Homeland Security
Customs and Border Protection, Instituto de Administracion y Avaluos de Bienes Nacionales
(INDAABIN--Mexico), Ayuntamiento de MexicaliRelaciones Internacionales (Mexico),
Instituto Municipal de Investigacion y Planeacion Urbana de Mexicali (Municipality of
Mexicali), Aduana Mexicana (Mexican Customs), the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma-Quechan
Reservation, and others in order to establish the two distinct methodological components that
were required. The first involved the positioning of traffic counters and survey takers, and the
second concerned the development of the survey instruments. Over the course of these meetings,
the count and survey positions were established that are included in the appendix. A schedule of
assignments and personnel requirements for these sites is also attached in the appendix.
The second component involved the preparation of survey instruments for passenger vehicle
drivers, pedestrians, and commercial truck drivers. Five survey forms were preparedtwo (one
for each direction) for passenger vehicles at all three sites (Mexicali/Calexico Downtown,
Calexico East, and Algodones), two (one for each direction) for pedestrian border crossers at
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown and Algodones, and one (for both northbound and southbound) for
commercial trucks at Calexico East. The final survey forms (one side in English and the other in
Spanish) are attached in the appendix, as is a sample form for the counts.
Surveys and counts were to be provided for six full days of operation, as follows:
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown (pedestrians and passenger vehicles): One 24-hour weekday and one 24-hour weekend day. Southbound passenger vehicles weekday only. Surveys were to be performed midnight-midnight northbound and during the afternoon rush-hour period southbound (3:00 p.m.7:00 p.m.). CALTRANS provided additional southbound surveys on one weekday (6:00 a.m.6:00 p.m.).
Calexico East (commercial trucks and northbound passenger vehicles): One 16-hour weekday and one 16-hour weekend day for passenger vehicles (6:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.), an 11-hour weekday for commercial trucks (8:30 a.m.7:30 p.m.), and an 8-hour weekend day for commercial trucks (10:00 a.m.6:00 p.m.)
Algodones (pedestrians and northbound passenger vehicles): One 16-hour weekday and one 16-hour weekend day (6:00 a.m.10:00 p.m.)
With the exception of the relatively few surveys administered southbound by CALTRANS and
Rea & Parker Research during the weekday rush hour, all passenger vehicle surveys were
administered northbound only because it is generally only northbound traffic that is regularly
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
4
delayed at the border and, therefore, becomes available to be approached and interviewed by
survey personnel.
Dates for the counts and surveys were set for February-March, 2007, and permission from all
requisite parties was sought and obtained by Rea & Parker Research for the following dates:
Tuesday, February, 27, 2007Calexico East Wednesday, February 28, 2007Algodones Thursday, March 1, 2007Mexicali/Calexico Downtown (CALTRANS southbound
passenger vehicle surveys) Saturday, March 3, 2007Calexico East Sunday, March 4, 2007Algodones Thursday, March 8, 2007Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Sunday, March 11, 2007Mexicali/Calexico Downtown
All counts and surveys proceeded smoothly and to a satisfactory completion.
Border Crossing Counts
Table 1 presents the total counts for each full day of study by mode of transportation (e.g.
vehicles, pedestrians, etc.). The appendix to this report contains the complete 15 minute interval
counts for each Port of Entry. It is the counts in their 15 minute interval format that are used to
weight the survey data, as discussed below.
The Mexicali/Calexico Downtown border crossing is the core of the Imperial County-Baja
California trans-border interaction. Calexico East also has a significant passenger vehicle
component along with its being the commercial cross border hub of the region, and Algodones
experiences a large number of pedestrians moving back and forth across its border. There are
complexities in the movement back and forth, shifting the symmetry of travel from being all
within one day and one crossing to a network of cross border travel that involves different
crossings and different days for the two directions of movement.
In total, there were 24,289 northbound weekday passenger vehicles counted at all three border
crossings (58 percent at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown) and 27,921 southbound vehicles counted
76 percent at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown)the difference in lack of directional symmetry for
Mexicali/Calexico Downtowns share possibly due to typically no waiting southbound at the
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown crossing but long waits northbound that may cause drivers to
redirect themselves to Calexico East for northbound crossings. On weekends, passenger vehicle
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
5
crossings total more northbound than southboundbalancing the reverse pattern on weekdays.
Total weekend northbound passenger vehicles at all three crossings on weekends were 25,203,
with 23,698 southbound. The Mexicali/Calexico Downtown share of passenger vehicles on
weekends was 57 percent northbound and 65 percent southboundfollowing the same pattern as
weekday crossings in shifting their northbound Port of Entry to Calexico East.
Table 1 Imperial County Daily Border Crossing Counts
(Rea & Parker Research, February-March, 2007) Mexicali/Calexico
Downtown Calexico East Algodones
North South North South North South Weekday
Passenger Vehicles 14,157 21,089 8,374 5,367 1,758 1,465 Buses 17 11 8 5 --- ---
Pedestrians 17,496 13,414 --- --- 5,782 5,229 2-axle Trucks --- --- 139 431 --- --- 3-axle Trucks --- --- 116 88 --- --- 4-axle Trucks --- --- 6 23 --- --- 5-axle Trucks --- --- 795 542 --- --- 6-axle Trucks --- --- 14 8 --- --- 7-axle Trucks --- --- 1 1 --- ---
Weekend Passenger Vehicles 14,420 15,504 8,854 6,028 1,929 2,166
Buses 10 6 10 5 --- --- Pedestrians 18,006 12,842 --- --- 5,578 5,095
2-axle Trucks --- --- 24 33 --- --- 3-axle Trucks --- --- 71 114 --- --- 4-axle Trucks --- --- 1 18 --- --- 5-axle Trucks --- --- 305 321 --- --- 6-axle Trucks --- --- 3 13 --- --- 7-axle Trucks --- --- --- 1 --- ---
As for pedestrian crossings, northbound weekdays totaled 23,278 (75 percent at
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown). Southbound, there were 18,643 pedestrian crossings (72 percent
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown)offsetting passenger vehicle counts that showed more
southbound crossings such that total crossings (northbound versus southbound pedestrian and
passenger vehicles weekday) were within 1,000 crossings of each other. Weekend pedestrian
crossings were 23,584 northbound (76 percent at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown) and 17,937
southbound (72 percent at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown).
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
6
Truck crossings at Calexico East totaled 1,071 weekday northbound and 1,093 weekday
southbound. On weekends, these totals dropped by more than 50 percent to 404 northbound and
500 southbound.
The counts in Table 1 have been added to the tables and charts in the Survey Respondent
Characteristics and Cross Border Travel Behavior and Characteristics sections of this report to
provide reference and context to those tables and charts. Completed surveys were weighted to
reflect the distribution of counts in 15 minute intervals so that the analysis that is contained in this
report is representative of the population of border crossers in direct proportion to the times that
they crossed the borders. The weighted percentages can be applied to the identified counts in the
charts and tables to provide estimated actual trip numbers.
The weighting/expansion process undertaken by Rea & Parker Research in this study entails
comparing the 15 minute interval counts to the completed survey times (also grouped into the
same 15 minute intervals) such that, for example, for northbound pedestrian border crossers at
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown, there were 120 pedestrians counted during the period 7:30 p.m. to
7:45 p.m. That represents 0.80 percent of crossers for the 15 minute intervals that actually
obtained surveys. The total number of northbound pedestrian surveys that were obtained during
that period represents 0.63 percent of surveys for that dayor less than its proportionate 0.80
share. A weight of 1.27 (0.80 divided by 0.63) was applied to all surveys obtained during that 15
minute period in order to establish proportionality and representativeness. There were in excess
of 1,000 such weights applied to the data based upon Port of Entry, transportation mode and
direction. These weights are included in the SPSS data file in the electronic appendix.
Comparing the counts made in this study to official counts for March, 2006 (2007 is not yet
publicly available) is interesting. Table 2 shows the official northbound counts of pedestrians,
passenger vehicles, and commercial trucks at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown, Calexico East, and
Algodones (Andrade). These counts are provided for the full month and have been divided by 31
to obtain a daily average. This averaging method does not take account of daily fluctuations and
is therefore not to be relied upon for precise counts; however, the daily average does provide a
contextual data point for comparative purposes.
The source of these counts is the U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative
Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Border Crossing/Entry Data;
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
7
based on data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection,
OMR database.
Table 2 Comparison of Rea & Parker Research (R&P) Cross-Border Northbound Counts
to March, 2006 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Counts Transportation
Mode Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Calexico East Algodones
R&P Table 1*
CBP March,
2006
CBP Daily Mean
R&P Table 1*
CBP March,
2006
CBP Daily Mean
R&P Table 1*
CBP March,
2006
CBP Daily Mean
Passenger Vehicles
14,232
514,662
16,602
8,511
370,973
11,967
1,807
61,867
1,996
Pedestrians 17,642 196,463 6,338 ----- ----- ----- 5,724 264,199 8,523 Commercial
Trucks
-----
-----
-----
880
28,817
930
-----
-----
----- * Weighted average (5:2) of weekday and weekend counts
Table 2 shows that the counts in this study parallel Customs and Border Protection counts in
March, 2006 for Mexicali/Calexico Downtown and Algodones passenger vehicles and for
Calexico East commercial trucks. Counts for Calexico East passenger vehicles and for
Algodones pedestrians are somewhat lower for this study than are the CBP counts. On the other
hand, the counts of pedestrians at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown in this study are almost three
times higher than CBP counts. Overall, this study has counted 48,796 daily border crossings at
the three ports of entry by passenger vehicles, pedestrians, and commercial trucks, and CBP daily
averages for March 2006 are 46,356slightly lower, but also one year earlier.
The greatest differentialpedestrians at Mexicali/Calexico Downtownseems to be due to an
apparent low count by CBP; however, the 196,463 pedestrians counted is consistent with the
February 2006 count of 148,782 and the April 2006 count of 235,198. In sum, the counts made in
this study are higher than CBP counts in total but are generally consistent overall.
Survey Sample
Once administered, the returned surveys were identified for completeness. It was determined
that, in order for a survey to be included as sufficiently complete, it must contain geographic
information at least to the zip code level for United States locations or to the city or region level
for Mexico locations. The top portion of the survey was to be filled out by the survey interviewer
after administering the questions. That top portion included information that the survey
interviewer was to observe and record concerning type of passenger vehicle or truck, time of
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
8
survey, and number of travelers. Further, in order to be deemed sufficiently complete, surveys
were to include trip purpose, origin location type, and destination location type.
Table 3 shows that a total of 5,282 surveys met these requirements and were included in this
analysisthe distribution between weekday and weekend surveys was approximately equal.
Table 4 depicts that a majority of surveys were obtained at the Mexicali/Calexico Downtown
border crossing (58 percent), with the other two sites dividing the remainder approximately in
half. Table 5 indicates that passenger vehicle surveys represented 55 percent of all surveys
completed, with another 36 percent having been obtained from pedestrians.
Table 3 Distribution of Completed Surveys by Location, Direction, and Transportation Mode
Location/Direction/Interviewees Total Number of Surveys
Weekday Surveys
Weekend Surveys
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Northbound Pedestrians
536
173
363
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Southbound Pedestrians
686
524
162
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Northbound Passenger Vehicles
1,685
699
986
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Southbound Passenger Vehicles
136
136
---
Algodones Northbound Pedestrians
387
151
236
Algodones Southbound Pedestrians
264
94
170
Algodones Northbound Passenger Vehicles
446
175
271
Calexico East Northbound Passenger Vehicles
651
330
321
Calexico East Northbound Trucks
328
226
102
Calexico East Southbound Trucks
163
94
69
Total 5,282 2,602 2,680
Table 4 Distribution of Completed Surveys by Survey Location
Location Number of Completed Surveys
%
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown 3,043 58% Calexico East 1,142 22%
Algodones 1,097 20% Total 5,282 100%
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
9
Table 5 Distribution of Completed Surveys by Mode of Transportation Mode Number of Completed
Surveys %
Passenger Vehicles 2,918 55% Pedestrians 1,873 36%
Trucks 491 9% Total 5,282 100%
The electronic appendix includes 10 SPSS data files that were created from the completed survey
responsesone file for each combination of type of transportation (commercial truck, passenger
vehicle, and pedestrian), direction (northbound and southbound), and Port of Entry
(Mexicali/Calexico Downtown, Calexico East, and Algodones).
Geocoding of SCAG Region Origin/Destination Locations
All origin, destination, pick-up, and drop-off locations in the SCAG Region that were designated
on the survey instruments were geocoded. In the ideal, data was provided at the cross-street level
(as was requested by the survey instruments) in the zip code provided or discerned by further
analysis. When that was not provided or not discernable from the survey responses, the geocode
process sought to geocode the response to a single provided street in the center of the zip code
that was provided, and when that was not possible, data was geocoded to the center of the zip
code.
Table 6 summarizes the results of the geocoding process and shows that there were 5,924 one-
way trips that identified for geocoding and were to have one U.S. end point, including multiple
origins and destinations for commercial trucks. Of these, 773 trips (13 percent) could not be
identified with a U.S location and 1,126 trips (19 percent) were outside of the SCAG region
(predominantly, as would be expected, at Algodones) that includes all Southern California
counties except San Diego County. Trucks, in particular, were absent U.S. geo-data. Of the
remaining 4,025 trips 977 (24 percent) were fully provided with zip codes and two cross-streets.
Another 1,206 trips (30 percent) contained one geo-codeable cross-street and 1,842 (46 percent)
contained only zip codes. Northbound passenger vehicles at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown (559
trips) were particularly plentiful regarding full geographic information, providing 57 percent
(559/977) of the total of fully completed surveys.
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
10
Table 6 Total Trips Geocoded
(Origin, Destination, Pick-Up, Drop-Off)
Border Crossing
SCAG Region:
Two Cross Streets and Zip
Code
SCAG Region:
One Cross Street and Zip Code
SCAG Region:
Zip Code only
Trips
Outside SCAG Region
No U.S. Trip Information
Total Trips
NB Pass. Vehicles Mexicali/Calexico
Downtown
559
642
392
64
26
1,683
SB Pass. Vehicles Mexicali/Calexico
Downtown
84
27
22
1
1
135
NB Pass. Vehicles Calexico
East
120
93
395
38
4
650
NB Pass. Vehicles Algodones
1 3 21 394 26 445
NB Pedestrians Mexicali/Calexico
Downtown
72
130
270
19
45
536
SB Pedestrians Mexicali/Calexico
Downtown
91
181
393
13
11
689
NB Pedestrians Algodones
0 5 17 330 28 380
SB Pedestrians Algodones
4 15 3 228 12 262
NB Commercial Trucks Calexico
East
42
102
129
34
349
656
SB Commercial Trucks Calexico
East
4
8
200
5
271
488
Total Trips 977 1,206 1,842 1,126 773 5,924
Maps were prepared from geocoded data for origins, destinations, cargo pick-up, and cargo drop
off locations. These maps are included, where applicable, in the Cross Border Travel Behavior
and Characteristics section of this report.
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
11
Survey Respondent Characteristics Table 7 (northbound) and Table 8 (southbound) present a picture for passenger vehicles of the
passenger demographics and vehicle types that crossed the border at the three border locations.
Table 7 Northbound Passenger VehiclesVehicle Type and Passenger Demographics Mexicali/Calexico
Downtown Calexico East Algodones
Weekday Weekend Weekday Weekend Weekday Weekend N=14,157 N=14,420 N=8,374 N=5,367 N=1,758 N=1,465
Vehicle Type Passenger Car 55% 48% 30% 40% 35% 41% Pick-Up Truck 27% 21% 25% 28% 33% 26%
Van 10% 17% 24% 27% 11% 21% SUV 15% 14% 21% 5% 21% 5%
Number of Adult Passengers 1 65% 58% 43% 43% 35% 40% 2 29% 33% 50% 50% 45% 37%
3 or more 6% 9% 7% 8% 20% 23% Number of Children
% with children passengers 11%
17%
27%
29%
18%
19%
Mean # of children passengers
1.73
1.56
1.55
1.49
1.68
1.56
Residence Municipality of Mexicali 84% 61% 71% 76% 5% 11%
Elsewhere in Mexico 2% 1% 1% 2% 16% 43% California 14% 36% 26% 19% 10% 5% Arizona --- 2% 2% 3% 37% 24%
Washington --- --- --- --- 11% 3% Oregon --- --- --- --- 7% 3%
Other States and Canada --- --- --- --- 14% 11% Type of Residence
Single Family Home 79% 80% 70% 78% 65% 97% Attached Home 3% 4% 11% 11% 35% 1%
Condominium/Apartment 16% 14% 14% 10% --- 1% Mobile Home 2% 2% 5% 1% --- 1% Employment* Agriculture 18% 16% 10% 7% 6% 12%
Service 14% 18% 10% 13% 2% 7% Government 12% 11% 12% 19% 3% 9% Construction 12% 11% 10% 3% 3% 12%
Retail 8% 9% 8% 5% 2% 3% Manufacturing 7% 5% 5% 8% 6% 4%
Restaurant 6% 7% 7% 5% 3% 4% Other** 8% 7% 18% 22% 6% 20%
Does Not Work 12% 13% 16% 17% 65% 29% * Asked of all vehicles crossing border whether work-related or not ** Includes teachers, students, doctors, dentists, lawyers, technology, and business owners, among others
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
12
Table 7 depicts Mexicali/Calexico Downtown as having more passenger vehicles and a smaller
number of passengers per vehicle than the other two crossings, with 55 percent of weekday and
48 percent of weekend vehicles being passenger cars at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown. In
contrast there is a relatively even distribution among passenger cars, pick-up trucks and sports
utility vehicles at Calexico East and between passenger cars and pick-up trucks at Algodones,
particularly on weekdays.
Table 8
Southbound Passenger Vehicles Vehicle Type and Passenger Demographics
Mexicali/Calexico DowntownWeekday only (N=21,089)
Vehicle Type Passenger Car 56% Pick-Up Truck 19%
Van 16% SUV 9%
Number of Adult Passengers 1 50% 2 38%
3 or more 12% Number of Children
% with children passengers 16% Mean # of children passengers 1.31
Residence Municipality of Mexicali 56%
Elsewhere in Mexico 1% California 43%
Type of Residence Single Family Home 87%
Attached Home 3% Condominium/Apartment 9%
Mobile Home 1% Employment*
Agriculture 14% Service 21%
Government 4% Construction 4%
Retail 6% Manufacturing 3%
Restaurant 2% Other** 24%
Does Not Work 21% * Asked of all vehicles crossing border whether work-related or not ** Includes teachers, students, doctors, dentists, lawyers, technology and business owners, among others
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
13
Single adult occupant vehicles represent the majority (65 percent weekday and 58 percent
weekend) of Mexicali/Calexico passenger vehicle crossings in contrast to closer to 40 percent at
the other two sites. Consistent with that, children are much more prevalent in Calexico East
passenger vehicles (27 percent weekday and 29 percent weekend). Northbound crossers mostly
live in the Municipality of Mexicali (61 percent to 84 percent, depending upon day of week and
direction) for the Mexicali/Calexico Downtown and Calexico East crossings; whereas, Algodones
has crossers from other parts of Mexico (16 percent weekday and 43 percent weekend) and from
many parts of the United States, with Arizona most represented among U.S. residence locations
(37 percent weekday and 24 percent weekend). Calexico and other Imperial Valley communities
are the residence locations for all but 2 percent to 4 percent of the 28 percent (weekday) to 38
percent (weekend) U.S. resident passenger vehicle border crossers at Mexicali/Calexico
Downtown and all but 6 percent to 8 percent of U.S. resident passenger vehicle border crossers
(28 percent weekday and 22 percent weekend) at Calexico East. Weekend passenger vehicle
crossers at Calexico East demonstrate the greatest non-Imperial Valley component3 percent
from Arizona and 5 percent from other parts of California.
Most survey participants live in single family residences (65 percent to 97 percent) and are
employed in a diverse cross-section of occupational categories, with agriculture, service, and
government somewhat more numerous. Algodones has a large contingent of individuals who are
not workingespecially weekday crossers (65 percent), which is consistent with the winter
visitors to nearby Yuma who are retirees from colder weather locations.
Table 8 presents the same information for weekday southbound passenger vehicles interviewed at
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown. Table 7 is consistent with the Mexicali/Calexico Downtown data
in Table 6passenger cars (56 percent), single occupant vehicles (50 percent), Mexicali
residence (56 percent) and single family home (87 percent). Employment differs somewhat, with
service increasing from 14 percent weekday northbound to 21 percent southbound, government
and construction both declining from 12 percent to 4 percent, and non-workers increasing from
12 percent to 21 percent.
Table 9 and Table 10 show residential locations for northbound and southbound pedestrian
border crossers at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown and at Algodones. Table 9 indicates that
California residents are a larger part of pedestrian crossers at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown (28
percent to 43 percent depending upon direction and day of week) than they are among vehicle
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
14
crossers (14 percent to 36 percent), with Mexicali residents corresponding lower in proportion.
At Algodones Table 8 shows an even greater diversity of location among pedestrian crossers than
was evident among passenger vehicles. Arizona residents (35 percent average of northbound and
southbound respondents), Canadian residents (15 percent average), and Mexico residents (13
percent average) are prominent during the week, as was the case with passenger vehicle crossers,
but weekends are more the domain of more distant residents, with Canadian, Washington State,
and Oregon residents accounting for 34 percent of pedestrian crossings, Arizona providing 26
percent, and Mexico residents declining to 7 percent.
Table 9 Mexicali/Calexico DowntownPedestrian Residence
Northbound Southbound Residence Weekday Weekend Weekday Weekend
N=17,496 N=18,006 N=13,414 N=12,842 Municipality of
Mexicali 60% 54% 68% 64%
Elsewhere in Mexico --- 2% 3% 2% California 39% 43% 28% 33% Arizona --- 1% 1% 1%
Other States 1% --- --- ---
Table 10 AlgodonesPedestrian Residence
Northbound Southbound Residence Weekday Weekend Weekday Weekend
N=5,782 N=5,578 N=5,229 N=5,095 Municipality of
Mexicali 1% --- --- ---
Elsewhere in Mexico --- 1% 25% 7% Arizona 22% 18% 48% 33%
California 8% 6% 8% 12% Canada 26% 18% 3% 15%
Washington 11% 9% 2% 11% Oregon 4% 14% 3% 1%
Minnesota 6% 5% --- 1% Idaho 4% 2% --- 2%
New Mexico --- 4% --- --- Utah 2% 6% --- 2%
Colorado 3% 3% 4% 2% Other States 13% 14% 7% 14%
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Lastly, for trucks crossing at Calexico East, Table 11 presents the distribution of truck types and
sizes (by number of axles), with 5-axle Tractor-Trailers being most heavily used, especially
southbound and the 3-axle variety of tractor-trailers showing an anomalous presence for
northbound weekend trips.
Table 11 Surveyed Truck TypesCalexico East
Northbound Southbound Weekday Weekend Weekday Weekend N=1,071 N=404 N=1,093 N=500
Truck Type Pick-Up/Van 14% --- 4% 1%
Truck 3% 10% 6% 4% Tractor-Trailer 82% 88% 86% 92%
Tractor-No Trailer 1% 2% 4% 3% # of Axles
2 12% 1% 11% 5% 3 28% 74% 7% 3% 4 4% 19% --- 1% 5 56% 2% 79% 91% 6 --- 4% 91% ---
Cross Border Travel Behavior and Characteristics
The next sections of the report present the survey findings about the travel patterns and trip
characteristics of cross border trips. These sections emphasize the survey results concerning
origins and destinations, trip purposes, trip frequencies, major roads used in the trip, and cargo
carried, among others. The findings are presented in charts accompanied by written summaries of
each. The charts display the counts from Table 1, which can be applied to the percentages in the
charts to determine actual numbers of border crossers. These sections are organized as follows:
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Passenger Vehicle Border Crossings Pedestrian Border Crossings
Calexico East Passenger Vehicle Border Crossings
Algodones Passenger Vehicle Border Crossings Pedestrian Border Crossings
Calexico East Commercial Truck Border Crossings
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Where, because of filtering or low response rates, the total number of responses to any question is
less than 30 (the minimum to have any degree of confidence at all that a normal distribution is
possible), no findings are reported. For example, the number of northbound truck drivers who
knew where their cargo had initially originated was only eight. To report the indications of origin
from those eight drivers would be misleading in its implied accuracy.
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Mexicali/Calexico Downtown Passenger Vehicles: Four distinct categories of information were
sought about passenger vehicle cross-border
travel characteristics: Trip Purpose,
Origin/Destination, Trip Frequency, and
Major Roads Used.
Trip Purpose: Chart 1 indicates that, during
the week, 38 percent of weekday and 26
percent of weekend northbound passenger
vehicle travelers are traveling to or from their
workplace. Ranking second during the week are shopping trips (29 percent). On weekends
northbound, shopping trips are most frequent (35 percent), with trips going back home ranking
second at 31 percent.
38%
26%
29%
35%
12%
31%
6%
8%
5%
1%
5%
1%
3%2% 2% 1% 1%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Workplace
ShoppingHome
Visit Family/Friends
SchoolAuto-Related
Dining/Entertain
Business Travel
Medical
Chart 1 Trip Purpose
Northbound Passenger Vehicles - Mexicali/Calexico Downtown
Weekday-North (N=14,157)Weekend-North (N=14,420)
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Regarding work trip purposes, those jobs in which passenger vehicle commuters are
overwhelmingly most numerous northbound are agricultural jobs (37 percent of weekday and 41
percent weekend)Chart 2.
37%
45%
18%
13%15%
6%
12% 12%
7%
15%
4%
1% 2% 1% 2% 2% 1% 1% 2%4%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Agriculture
ServiceConstruction
Restaurant
RetailManufacturing
Hotel/Motel
Government
Technology
Other
Chart 2 Occupation of Commuters to/from Work
Northbound Passenger Vehicles--Mexicali/Calexico Downtown
Weekday-North (N=14,157)Weekend-North (N=14,420)
Other includes teachers, students, doctors, dentists, buisness owners
Southbound on weekdays (Chart 3), shopping and going home are most prevalent (26 percent
each), with work representing 19 percent of those traveling south. Much like northbound trips,
jobs for southbound travelers are in agriculture (40 percent) and services (22 percent)Chart 4.
With southbound vehicle counts 50 percent higher than northbound, the difference between the
38 percent workplace trips northbound and 19 percent southbound is mitigated substantially (see
mitigating effect of combining northbound and southbound passenger vehicles in Chart 5).
Origin/Destination: Origin-destination surveys rarely achieve a perfect symmetry for origins
and destinations. That is, it is not uncommon for those respondents going to work to respond to
surveys on their way to work and then refuse on their way back, having already complied. As
such, transportation planners utilize a tool known as Production/Attraction to accommodate this
imbalance. Production/Attraction classifies any home-based or home-destination trip as a trip
produced at home and attracted by the other end of the trip (e.g., work, school, shopping). All
other trips (not involving home) are recorded strictly as being produced at the point of origin and
attracted by the destination.
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
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26% 26%
19%
10%
8%
3% 3% 3%2%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
ShoppingHome
Workplace
Visit Family/Friends
Business Travel
Auto-Related
Dining/Entertain
SchoolMedical
Chart 3 Trip Purpose
Southbound Weekday Passenger Vehicles (N=21,089) Mexicali/Calexico Downtown
40%
22%
16%
3% 3% 3%
13%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Agriculture Service Retail Construction Government Technology Other
Chart 4 Occupation of Commuters to/from Work
Southbound Weekday Passenger Vehicles (N=21,089) Mexicali/Calexico Downtown
Other includes teachers, students, doctors, dentists, buisness owners
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Chart 5 depicts the result of the Production-Attraction process and shows that home produced
trips represent 92 percent of weekday trips and 95 percent of weekend northbound trips. Trips
between home and work are the most common during the week (38 percent), with shopping trips
taking over on weekends (31 percent).
38%
17%
25%
31%
13%
27%
8%
13%
4% 4%7%
5%
2% 3% 3%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
Home-Work
Home-Shopping
Home-Other than Work, Shopping, etc.
Home-Social/Recreation
Home-School
Home-Uncertain Attraction
Work-Other than Home or Work
Other than Home or Work-Other than Home or Work
Chart 5 Origin-Destination
Northbound & Southbound Passenger Vehicles (Weekday)Northbound Only (Weekend)--Mexicali-Calexico Downtown
Weekday-N & S (N=35,246)Weekend-North (N=14,420)
Note that one category on the chart is labeled Home-Uncertain Attraction and contains 4 percent
of weekday and 7 percent of weekend responses. It is not uncommon in any origin- destination
study that some portion of the sample respondents will reply in a round trip context that they are
both starting from and destined for home. This is normally an erroneous response that could
render the information better treated as non-responsive. In the case of this study, however, that
was not the case. First, there are many residents of the border region who have residences on
both sides of the border, and, consequently, the home-home response pattern is not necessarily
non-responsive. Secondly, in a Production-Attraction analysis, the home-home response is still
indicative of a home-based trip and, therefore, merits inclusion in the analysis.
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
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Northbound trips originated almost entirely in the Municipality of Mexicali (96 percent weekday
and 94 percent weekend) and were destined for cities that are 97 percent in California, almost all
in the Imperial Valley (led by Calexico 65 percent weekday and 61 percent weekend)Chart 6.
The reverse, southbound, trips (Chart 7) originated in almost perfect symmetry to the northbound
destinations, with Imperial Valley locations dominant. The Municipality of Mexicali was the
destination for 98 present of these southbound trips.
65%
61%
15%18%
5% 5% 4%2% 2% 2% 1% 2% 1% 2% 2% 2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Calexico El Centro Brawley Imperial Holtville Yuma Heber Calipatria San Diego
Chart 6 U.S. City of Destination
Northbound Passenger Vehicles Mexicali/Calexico Downtown
Weekday-North(N=14,157)
Weekend-North(N=14,420)
Mexican City/Region of Origin:Weekday: Mexicali = 96%Mexicali Valley = 2%
Weekend:Mexicali = 94%San Felipe = 3% Mexicali Valley = 2%
Map 2 and Map 3 on the succeeding pages provide a visual portrait of this cross border
movement of passenger vehicles. These maps are prepared from the geocoded responses of
survey participants and are aggregated to the zip code level to include both weekday and weekend
responses. Map 2 shows the zip code destinations for northbound passenger vehicles at the
Mexicali/Calexico Downtown border crossing and, as indicated in Chart 6, Calexico and El
Centro are dominant destinations. Map 3 corresponds to Chart 7 in its depiction of the U.S.
origins for southbound passenger vehicle trips across the border at Mexicali/Calexico Downtown.
Imperial County Cross-Border Survey Rea & Parker Research Southern California Association of Governments June, 2007
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68%
12%
5% 4% 4%2% 2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Calexico El Centro Brawley Heber Westmorland Imperial San Diego
Chart 7 City of Origin
Southbound Weekday Passenger Vehicles (N=21,089) Mexicali/Calexico Downtown
100% of Sou